A Lovely Holiday
by Lollikayti
Summary: School: Mahoutokoro Theme: Amortentia Prompts: Snape/Lily pairing, tragedy


Severus woke up to the sounds of birds and the light of the first-morning sun peeking up over the horizon. He always seemed to rise with the sun. Sleep eluded him more nights than not, and he didn't see a point in laying in bed all day. Lily, on the other hand, was still sound asleep. She was always a firm believer in sleeping in on the weekends. He leaned over and gently brushed a strand of auburn hair from her face. Each time he looked at her he pondered how he was lucky enough to have married such an incredible woman.

He lightly kissed her on the forehead and slowly crept out of bed. He put the kettle on for tea and sat down to read today's Daily Prophet. With Lily asleep and their daughters at home with a sitter, Severus was able to have a truly peaceful and quiet moment for himself. A few minutes later Lily came out of the bedroom still wearing last nights pajamas. Severus turned around to see her and thought it incredible how effortlessly beautiful she was. She bent over and wrapped her arms around him.

"Good morning darling. Anything good in the paper today?" She whispered sleepily in his ear.

"The same Rita Skeeter rubbish as always. Did you sleep well?" He says softly as he smiles and starts to put down his paper.

"Beautifully. I love it when we can get away like this." She stands up and stretches then goes to open the fridge.

"I made some tea, but I didn't cook. I wasn't sure you would want anything when we have such a big lunch planned." He said, turning in his chair to face her.

"Oh the picnic! I almost forgot! Thank you dear.I think I'll have some tea." She laughed and closed the fridge.

The picnic was her idea so it was pretty silly of her to forget. They had been planning this holiday for months and she had every detail laid out. Today was just the first day of a whole week she and Severus had to themselves. Of course she loved her daughters but it's always nice to have some time away just the two of them. Daphne and Penelope were very disappointed that mum and dad were going on holiday without them, and were even more upset to find that aunt Petunia would be babysitting. Severus had to make Daphne promise not to practice any magic on her aunt, regardless of how tempting it may be. Penny was the better behaved of the two but still made it clear she was not happy with their choice of sitter. Petunia was loving, but very strict. She had little tolerance for magic, so she could keep the girls out of trouble, and most importantly Lily knew she could trust her.

Lily sat down with Severus and sipped her tea. Since today was only the first day of their trip, they really wanted to focus on relaxing and just spending time together. They sat and talked for a while. It was nice to not have anywhere to be or anything urgent to do for once.

When Voldemort was defeated and The Order Of The Phoenix disbanded, they thought life would finally go back to normal. It seemed to for a while, and then they were married in a whirlwind and before they could blink the girls were born. It was the happiest times of their lives, but also the most stressful. It turns out taking care of twin baby girls was not easy. Some days they questioned if dealing with Voldemort was any easier.

After sitting for a while Lily got up to start getting dressed and preparing lunch for the picnic. She could easily magically summon the food when they arrived, but she decided to go with the more traditional method. Cooking and preparing food was one of her favorite hobbies. Severus always preferred a home cooked meal to a summoned one anyways. The kids couldn't tell the difference yet.

Since they weren't in any real hurry she decided to go all out. She made a beautiful shepherds pie and some yorkshire puddings to go with it. Once she was dressed and everything was prepared, they set off. They hiked from their cabin a little ways until they reached a beautiful hilltop.

Once they arrived Severus took a moment to breathe and just admire the countryside. It had been so long since they had been to this spot. They came here on their honeymoon and now had come back for their sixth anniversary. He found that a lot had changed over the past six years, but one thing was always a constant. No matter what was going on, on any particular day, he always had Lily there by his side. He was always so grateful and so happy to have her love and her partnership through everything.

After admiring the view for a while, they sat down to eat.

"This is really incredible love, I really appreciate all the effort. You know you didn't have to." Severus smiled and said in between bites.

"I wanted to. Magically summoning food is too easy sometimes. I really wanted to make this especially for today." She took great pride in her cooking, and for good reason. After they finished their food, Severus filled two tall flutes with a dark ruby colored wine.

"I almost forgot how breathtaking it is up here. This is so wonderful Sev." She sighed and took a sip of her wine. She laid her hand in his.

"It really is. Being here with you right now reminds me of how truly lucky we are." He held her hand in his and smiled.

"I agree. To finally have the wizarding world at peace, and to be able to just spend my time with you and with our children has brought me more joy than words can express." She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

They sat in silence for awhile and watched the sunset together. One thing that Lily loved about their relationship was that they didn't need to say a lot to express their feelings. Once they finished the bottle of wine, it was starting to get a little chilly outside so they decided to head back to the cabin.

Once they got back to the cabin, Severus cleaned up all the dishes and started the fire. There were two large chairs seated opposite another in front of the fire. Lily took one as Sev was tending the fire. She curled up in the chair with a blanket and a book on muggle studies that Arthur Weasley gave her a few years back. Severus took the other and began reading a book on the effects of certain potions when given to muggles.

After reading for a while Lily could feel her eyes getting heavy. She closed them for just a moment. Severus looked over at her and smiled. She was fast asleep. It was starting to get late so it probably was a good time to go to bed. This had been such a perfect day. He slowly slipped the book out of her hand and sat it down in the other chair. He slowly wedged his arms around her and scooped her up in his arms. She let out a soft yawn but didn't fully wake up. He carried her to the bed and gently tucked her under the covers.

"I love you." he whispered as he gently kissed her on the cheek. He saw a her smile a little. He made sure she was comfortable and that everything was put away, then decided to go to bed himself.

Severus woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. He started to open his eyes to check on Lily. He looked around, all of a sudden very confused. She wasn't there. In fact, nothing was there that he remembered from last night. Before letting himself panic he took a deep breath. His sat with his eyes closed for a few minutes to give himself time to think. His thoughts were racing and his heart pounding in his chest. After what felt like ages, he opened his eyes again. He suddenly had a great need to ground himself in reality. He sat up and began writing a note to Professor Dumbledore, his hand shaking.

Professor,

Something strange has occurred and I must make an emergency trip to Godric's Hollow. I can't explain all the details at the moment but I believe I mistook something for my sleeping draught last night and it has had some truly devastating side effects. I shall return by tomorrow, but I'm sure the students will be overjoyed that I cannot attend class today.

-Severus Snape

He slid the note into Dumbledore's office and left Hogwarts as soon as he could. He arrived in Godric's Hollow hooded so not be recognized. He arrived at the entrance of the graveyard and his breath caught in chest.

"It was only a dream.." he whispered. "How could I smell your hair? How could I taste your perfume?..." His voice shaking as he approached her gravestone.

Dumbledore was watching from a distance. He was very concerned by the note Snape left so he took it upon himself to follow him to see what's going on. Snape knelt and sat by her gravestone as Albus looked on. It was quite painful to watch his heart break all over again. Before Albus turned to leave he could have sworn he heard Severus starting to tell a story about a picnic...


End file.
